Attorney General Jeff Jackson and the Federal Government Move to End Google’s Search Monopoly

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, March 7, 2025

Contact: Ben Conroy
(984) 383-9038

Attorney General Jeff Jackson and the Federal Government Move to End Google’s Search Monopoly

RALEIGH — Today, Attorney General Jeff Jackson, a bipartisan coalition of attorneys general, and the United States Department of Justice proposed an end to Google’s illegal monopoly over internet search engines and changes to restore competition to benefit consumers. North Carolina is one of the states leading the coalition of 38 other states that filed this lawsuit in 2020.

“Google’s search monopoly violated federal antitrust law that has existed for more than a century to protect consumers and the marketplace,” said Attorney General Jeff Jackson. “The changes we’re proposing today would right Google’s wrongs and give control back to customers.”

Today’s revised proposed final judgment is similar to what the states and the Justice Department initially proposed last November after a judge ruled that Google has maintained a monopoly in online search and search text ads. As the governments note in their filing, Google’s actions have deprived “…American consumers and businesses of their right to choose among competing services, because Google has worked to guarantee that it always wins.”

The attorneys general and federal government are proposing a series of solutions that would end Google’s monopoly among search engines, ensure a competitive market for search engine services, and spur innovation. Those solutions would include:

• Banning Google from paying other Android partners or Apple to be the default search engine on any phone, device, or browser.
• Requiring Google to safely share the data and information that it obtained through its unlawful monopoly power.
• Requiring Google to sell off its Chrome browser, an entry point to search services for a significant number of users.
• Prohibit Google from making Google Search or Google AI mandatory on Android devices, interfering with rivals’ distribution, or degrading rivals’ quality.

If these solutions are ineffective, or if Google doesn’t uphold the terms of the judgment, the governments propose requiring Google to sell Android. The states and the Justice Department would also be entitled to review Google’s possible future investments to make sure they don’t harm competition in the marketplace.

A hearing on the proposed remedies is currently scheduled to begin on April 22 and conclude by May 2.

A copy of a summary of the proposed final judgment is available HERE.

 ###